Why? Because who doesn’t love talent? Who doesn’t love the success and dominance of someone who’s done it for so long at the professional level? The most disappointing and upsetting thing in all of sports is the decline of the athlete. An athlete who’s dominated for years and years. A decade or more. Then all of a sudden, he fails. And falls. What is worse than seeing that? Nothing in my book.

Albert Pujols not succeeding is equal to what I just described. It stinks.

So far this season, Pujols’ Los Angeles Angels are at the bottom of the American League West with a 7-15 record. Pujols has gone 88 at-bats without hitting a single homerun, the longest streak of his career. He’s batting .216 with 0 homeruns and only 4 RBI’s. As bad as Red Sox Third Basemen Kevin Youkilis started this season, he got 4 RBI’s in a single game. By hitting a grand slam.

Pujols is a career .327 hitter. He has 445 homeruns. So what is wrong with him? It can’t be the adjustment from the National League to the American League. It can’t be.

The only thing I can think of is mental. It’s all mental. The Angels clubhouse was a hot air balloon at the beginning of the season. They were riding on a high, with the signings of Pujols and star pitcher, C.J. Wilson. Their lineup is above average, and they have a phenomenal pitching staff. They know they are talented. They just need to get it all together. They need to perform like they are capable of.

I never, ever thought Pujols would get into a serious drought like this in his career. Yes, everyone in baseball has slumps just because it is such a long season. But Pujols? This long? No way. It can’t last any longer.

People (including myself) do need to relax because it is still only the first month of the young MLB season, but it’s hard not to panic.

What do I think is going to happen? Pujols will get 30 homers and over 100 RBI’s just like every other year. This future Hall of Famer will turn the block and get back on track. Just watch, doubters.

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